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Provider developments at UCAS

Here you can find an overview of what developments we’re working on, and how you can have your say in shaping the future of our products and services.

Provider roadmap

Overview of the provider roadmap

Click to enlarge the roadmap.

Changes delivered for the 2024 cycle

Reference reform

To help advisers focus their references on the areas providers want to know more about, we replaced the free text approach with three structured sections.   

  1. Enter a general statement about your school/college (for applicants who lave linked to registered centres) or provide an overview of your relationship with the applicant (for independent applicants. 
  2. If applicable, enter any information about extenuating circumstances which may have impacted the applicant’s education and achievement. 
  3. Outline any other supportive information specific to the applicant and relevant to the course(s) applied for that you think universities/colleges should be aware of.

These sections were introduced in May 2023. 

Changes to the gender question

With this development, we enhanced the gender options presented, to ensure individuals who wish to progress to higher education can do so appropriately and respectfully. We introduced two additional responses: 

  • I use another term 
  • I prefer not to say 

Removal of National ID and dual National ID questions 

UCAS has previously asked students to supply their National identity in the application process. National identity is different from both ethnicity and nationality and could be based on many things including, for example, culture, language or ancestry/family history. National identity reflects how an individual chooses to classify themself. This data is no longer required for statutory returns, and so we have removed the questions.   

Phone number validation

Ensuring students enter their phone numbers in the right format (including the country code) to provide you with better quality contact data.  

UCAS Tracker

The first release of UCAS Tracker (enhanced) beta is now available for you to use.

Our latest updates are centred around subject-level analysis, as we start the early stages of development. Throughout 2024 we will continuously be developing UCAS Tracker, in preparation for the official launch for the 2025 cycle. Now is your chance to try out UCAS Tracker (enhanced) and provide us with your feedback.

Upcoming changes

  • Improving our contextual data offering to give you more data (including verified FSM) at the point of application – the service previously known as the 'Modernised Contextual Data Service (MCDS)' is now available to consume in UCAS-link in the test and training environment. This change allows those who opt in, to consume it directly into their student record system alongside the other application data.   
  • Publication of historic entry grades – the entry grades data will be a new feature in the UCAS search tool from February 2024. We’ll display the grades students held when accepted, with the aim of further improving transparency and student decision-making. View our entry grades page for more information.
  • Improving the way we personalise Unibuddy matches for providers who engage in the service, to make the peer-to-peer connections more meaningful.

Developments for the 2025 cycle

  • Residency and nationality data collection improvements – improving the quality and volume of data we capture from students around residency and nationality. Read our  to find out more about the changes. 
  • Qualifications/education section improvements – improving the student qualification input experience, to provide you with better quality data. Read our  to find out more about the changes. 

Developments for the 2026 cycle

  • Personal statement reform and the introduction of an extenuating circumstances question – find out more about personal statement reform.  
  • Document management – allowing students to upload documents at the point of application. In this first iteration, students will be able to supply documents evidencing their qualifications, transcripts, English language proficiency, and care experience.
  • UCAS Collect – a new product for courses data. Streamlining opportunity data collection, submission, and tracking, to underpin successful exposure and recruitment.
  • Agent/adviser tracking – enabling students to demonstrate  they are being supported by an agent/adviser/sponsor who is not a UCAS registered centre.

Development webinars

We host regular development webinars where we begin scoping upcoming developments and share details of planned work. Help shape the UCAS backlog and delivery roadmap – these are your opportunity to directly shape what we’re building and help us prioritise the developments that mean the most to you. Keep an eye out in our weekly UCAS Correspondents' bulletins for detail of how to register for upcoming webinars.  

If you have any feedback or questions, please contact: providerdevelopments@ucas.ac.uk